Arizona’s Maricopa County Elects Sheriff Arpaio to 6th Consecutive Term

The immigrant community in the Phoenix area is preparing to live another four years with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who over the past few years has intensified his fight against undocumented migrants.

Arpaio, 80, was reelected Tuesday to a sixth consecutive term with 53 percent of the votes.

The controversial Republican sheriff received another mandate despite several pending federal lawsuits accusing his office of engaging in racial profiling against Hispanics.

“Unfortunately, we still have part of (state immigration law) SB 1070 in force in Arizona, which is the ‘show me your papers’ provision, and now we’re going to continue having Sheriff Arpaio,” Petra Falcon, the director of the Promise Arizona group, told Efe on Wednesday.

“Show me your papers,” which entered into force in September, requires state and local law enforcement officers to verify the immigration status of anyone encountered in the course of their duties who they suspect of being in the country illegally.